MuWNS (muometric wireless navigation system)

2023: Product Announcement

In mid-June 2023, researchers from the University of Tokyo introduced the so-called muometric wireless navigation system (MuWNS), which could become an alternative to GPS and GLONASS.

As the developers explain, MuWNS uses cosmic rays to track movement under the building with an accuracy of several meters. The system can be used to control underwater robots, navigate vehicles underground, and even search and rescue operations in collapsed mines where other navigation aids are ineffective.

MuWNS uses cosmic rays to track movement under a building to within meters

The key point of MuWNS is that the signals that the system monitors can pass through solid materials. These signals are particles known as muons that form when cosmic rays enter the Earth's atmosphere and interact with particles already present, creating a cascade of secondary particles. And this rain is constantly falling, according to various estimates of scientists for June 2023, for each sq. m. The surface of the Earth falls every minute about 10 thousand muons.

The team tested MuWNS deep in a multi-storey building where conventional GPS would not be able to maintain accuracy. A scientist with a manual muon detector was sent to the basement of the building, and the position of this detector was monitored using four reference stations on the sixth floor of the building. These reference stations worked as GPS satellites, thereby tracking the paths of muons captured by each station and detector, it was possible to track the position of the scientist with a high degree of accuracy. Still, there is still plenty of room for improvement, according to a team at the University of Tokyo.

As of June 21, 2023, the accuracy of MuWNS is from 2 m to 25 m, with a range of up to 100 m, depending on the depth and speed of the walking person. Researchers say this can eventually be fixed with an atomic clock mounted in handheld devices that are in development, but is too expensive for widespread use for 2023. Other components in use can already be miniaturized. The experiment also only tracked the researcher's path once it was completed, but future work will explore the possibility of doing so in real time.

Starting in 2010, muon detectors helped scientists look inside massive structures like the Great Pyramid of Giza and test an accurate clock synchronization system operating underground and underwater. The latest experiment shows that one day this technology can help complement GPS or GLONASS in areas where they do not work very well.^[1]

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